Irving berlin biography videos

Israel Baline Inspires Generations

Harry Smith narrates this heart-warming two-hour double-episode account of the life and career of Israel Baline, in a presentation debuting on Christmas evening, December 25,

By way of a pleasant variation from the usual, this begins in , several years after a nowyear-old Israel Baline becomes songwriter Irving Berlin, with newspaper headlines reporting his "scandalous" relationship with New York City Catholic socialite Ellin Mackay, with dozens of newspapers of the day investigating his impoverished past as one of six children born to an impoverished Russian Jewish immigrant family in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Withdrawing from school with a third-grade education, Israel works odd jobs, as newspaper carrier, helping the family to make ends meet.

At the tender age of 13, Israel loses his father and must now roam the streets, upon which he